Diggin' Deep

Dear Rebecca Tiedt (her blog isn't terribly current, but still an interesting read on new media aids in K-12 education), I could kiss you. She is the creator of the "Lithography: Printing Without a Stone or Press" slide show I also shared last blog post. I feel like the clouds have parted and ethereal beings are singing.

I had a suspicion I would love lithography. I have been told by other professors that I would love lithography. During my bare-bones experiments in the last year, I've found stone lithography to be immensely gratifying. Not to mention griding down stones is wonderful meditation. However, this photocopier-gum arabic-litho method has stolen my heart.

It's not without its hitches of course. I'm finding it a little bit tricky to get the water saturated just enough, but not too much. It could partly be materials; Tiedt's slide show says to use sponges, I've been using paper towels. A professor of mine has also suggested that the gum arabic-to-water ratio can affect the results. So there's more tinkering to do. So far, though, I'm very happy with this process and how it's going.

Conceptually, my work has focused on reproductive issues the last 4 years or so, largely influenced by my activism. Specifically, I'm focusing more on motherhood issues and maternal mental illness this past year, but I've always been passionately pro-choice. It was through pro-choice activism that I became acquainted with Michelle Kinsey Bruns, and later met her in person when she co-chaired an event I had a painting in. Michelle always has very intelligent and thoughtful things to say, but this article she has up on Feministing today really struck me. I've been diving more into the power of narratives in art to create societal change in my own work, but I've been a little timid when it comes to using my own narrative in my work. Producing art work and putting it in the public sphere is already such a vulnerable thing - how much more so when you scrub yourself raw and put your personal struggles in there too?

I've been feeling lately, though, that I have to go there. Especially for my thesis show. Michelle's article today, the courage she had to stand up on that train and then to also put it out online gives me courage too. These are the stories we need to share and get out there, as artists, as activists, and as people if we ever want to change anything.